The New York Department of State (this includes The New York State Athletic Commission) released the following statement on whether they could keep Brock Lesnar off the August 21st WWE SummerSlam pay-per-view if he is suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission due to a possible violation of USADA policy. The statement reads,
In 2002, New York State passed legislation that scaled back the regulation of “professional wrestling” in many respects based on a recognition that the activity is entertainment rather than bona-fide athletic competition. Under current New York State law, “professional wrestling” is defined as wrestling “primarily for the purpose of providing entertainment to spectators and which does not comprise a bona fide athletic contest or competition” (NY Unconsolidated Laws section 8928-b[1]). As such, the State does not license individual wrestlers, and Mr. Lesnar is not a licensee of the New York State Athletic Commission. In the context of “professional wrestling,” as defined above, the State licenses only the promoter, such as the WWE. Per New York law, among other health and safety requirements that apply to the licensing of a promoter, the event promoter is required to have a physician examine each wrestler and determine whether each wrestler is medically fit to participate.
The question of whether Mr. Lesnar is fit to participate in a “professional wrestling” event is one that will be determined by the application of the professional medical judgment of the examining physician, the policies of the WWE, and the choices made by Mr. Lesnar with regard to his own participation leading up to the event date.
This appears to suggest that Lesnar wouldn’t be prevented from appearing at SummerSlam due to an MMA suspension. It’s going to be up to WWE, Lesnar and a physician. As previously reported here on eWN, New York requires all wrestling events to have a doctor present, and WWE provides their own ringside doctors.
